Digitimes, using information obtained from motherboard manufacturers, is reporting that TSMC will likely build the GPU portion of AMD's upcoming Fusion processors, while the CPU cores will be made by either AMD themselves or partner Chartered Semiconductor.
"AMD's Fusion processor will consist of a GPU manufactured on a 55nm process by TSMC plus a silicon-on-insulator (SOI-) based CPU manufactured on a 45nm process at AMD's Fab 36 and Fab 38 or outsourced to Chartered. A packaging and testing plant will then package the CPU and GPU together as a Fusion processor.
AMD's CPU and GPU products are already being produced on a 65nm process and the company is preparing to enter mass production of GPUs on 55nm while 45nm CPU and GPU products will enter mass production in 2008. The company plans to introduce a 32nm process in 2009 and start mass production in 2010 with plans to introduce a 22nm process in 2011."
And yes, you read that right. Early Fusion products will most likely be multi-chip-modules; the GPU and CPU will not be on the same die.
Marco Chiappetta
Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com
